Between the vast sea of ​​clouds

At night, when the lights are on, a falcon hovers in the night sky, and finally lands in a courtyard.

The courtyard looks ordinary from the outside, but the interior layout is exquisite. The green tiles are covered by flowers and trees, and the mountains and rocks are dotted among them. Standing by the window and looking out, it seems that the four seasons of mountain scenery have been moved into the courtyard.

The hall was brightly lit, but there was no one there. The guests seemed to have left, and the servants who came and went put away the tea cups on the tables and gently closed the door.

And in the study room deep in the courtyard, a middle-aged woman in elegant clothes said in a low voice through the screen: "Shen Mingshan has been dismissed, and now the cabinet is headed by Yan Minghua, and things are a bit difficult..."

A clear figure was reflected on the screen, and the man said: "The matter has come to this point, we should think about all the ways we can think of, we can't just sit and wait for death. Yan Minghua is old, and sooner or later he will give up the position of chief assistant. We can give her more benefits. There must be people from us in the Chenzhou Mansion, and the position of the State Shepherd is the most important thing, and we must fight for it."

"But there has been no news from the DPRK and China, this..."

"After Liang Pu's death, Chenzhou became so chaotic. It is impossible for the court to sit idly by and let Chenzhou go on like this. The reason why there is no news is that the candidate has already been decided." The man replied, "Sooner or later, the court will send a People come, we have to win over these people.”

The woman hesitated for a moment, then asked: "The matter of our purchase of the field before seemed to be a bit of a big deal. If the superiors know about it and ask questions, what should we do?"

The man chuckled and said coldly: "Everything has been done, so don't look forward and backward. If there is no land, how can we grow mulberry, raise silkworms and weave silk? If you want to have a place in Minzhou, you have to compete with the Shao family for two The owner of the Shao family passed away, and the clan was in chaos, so how can we lead the team to sea this year? The opportunity is fleeting, so hurry up. What are you afraid of? The imperial court has always been on the side of the family. Here, what are the common people who are making trouble here, when the silk is sold to Nanyang, they will have the confidence to have money, and they will be afraid of these things?"

Women should be, no more words.

The man said again: "Of course, what should be killed is still to be killed. If the things can be brought back, that would be the best."

A round of bright moon is painted on the screen, breaking through the clouds from Dongshan Mountain and rising slowly.There are a few poems inscribed on the upper right of the screen, but they are all blurred.The man held a lamp close to the wind, and the woman in fine clothes looked up. One of the sentences was revealed in the firelight, and the ink was faint.

With a bang, the fire burned up from below in an instant, illuminating the whole screen in an instant.Tongues of fire climbed up, devouring the moonlit mountains on the screen.There was no one behind the screen, and the flames ignited by lamp oil hung down the curtains, and the whole house was set ablaze in an instant.

The woman in the fancy dress looked at this scene in astonishment. In the bright flames, a line of words in the upper right corner of the screen came into her eyes——

'This life and this night are not good, where will the bright moon look next year'.

"It's running out of water! Come on, it's running out of water!"

Yuan Sui woke up suddenly, pulled off her coat and put it on, and rushed out of the door, only to see Zhao Ye's executioner's flames rising into the sky, thick smoke billowing, her throat tightened, and before she had time to think about it, she yelled at the guards who were stunned beside her: "Hurry up and put out the fire, what are you still doing!"

"This, this fire is burning too fiercely, and it won't be extinguished in a while, my lord!"

Yuan Sui turned to look at the person who spoke: "If you can't put out the fire, bring the things out first!"

The guards led away, soaked their clothes with water, and rushed into the fire.

One person asked: "My lord, is there anything important in the secretary's house? Where do you put it, so that the younger ones can take it out."

Yuan Sui, who was buttoning his coat, paused, looked at the man again, and said calmly: "There is important physical evidence, so I put it under the third shelf of the secretary, and put it in an iron box. The box is a bit heavy. Be careful when you do."

The man agreed, and after she left, Yuan Sui then whispered to the people around him: "Call the head catcher and ask her to lead people to surround this place, if you see anyone acting sneaky, arrest them immediately! "

The Prison of the Prison Division and the Yamen of the Division of Criminal Justice are only separated by a courtyard. When there was such a commotion, the prisoners in the prison opened the windows to look around. complain.

Suddenly someone shouted loudly: "The water is pouring out, the fire may burn up at any time, do you want us to wait to die!"

Immediately there was a hundred responses, roars and shouts joined together, the cell door was slammed, and the cell leader on duty at night saw that the situation was not good, and hurriedly ordered the jailer to call someone.After a while, the jailer came in with several women dressed as low-level military officers and wearing long knives, and the voices in the prison became much quieter.Seeing this, the prison chief nodded and bowed his waist and said, "Your lords, there was a lot of movement just now, did the prisoner pass away?"

The leading woman gave her a gouged look, and said coldly: "Don't ask too much about things you shouldn't ask, just watch this place carefully, and don't make any trouble. If anyone is let go, you are the only one to ask!"

The cell leader apologized in horror, and the woman in charge said again: "Go in and have a look."

The jailer walked ahead carrying a weak lamp, the wall was blackened by the lamp oil, the cell was very quiet, only the sound of their footsteps could be heard.The jailer walked to the end, turned around and bowed and said, "My lord, it's the end."

The woman pointed to the iron door at the end and said, "How did it end, isn't there another door?"

The prison chief smiled and said: "My lord, this is the place where felons are detained in the big prison. Without the official's order, the younger ones dare not open the door."

As she said that, she backed away, but unexpectedly bumped into a wall of meat, she looked up, and couldn't help but feel a little bit of a shock in her heart.The faces of several tall military officers were blurred in the darkness, and the leader looked at her with a half-smile and said, "Open the door."

The head of the cell had a bad intuition and shouted loudly: "Who are you! You—"

Before the words were finished, the person had already fallen limply along the wall.The jailer was knocked down by a punch in panic. The woman in charge fumbled around the prisoner's waist for a while, and took out a large bunch of keys. She couldn't open the iron door after trying successively.Finally, another unique key was found in the prison head's arms, and they used this key to open the iron door at the end.

There is a glimmer of light from inside the door, there are no windows in the house, and stone walls are all around.The room is furnished with nothing more than a table, a bed and an oil lamp. It has been used for a long time, and there is black mud on the edge of the table, but the ground is extremely clean.Sitting alone under the lamp reading a book, he raised his head when he heard the sound.

A short person walked out of the women dressed as military officers, carrying a cloth bag in his hand, he nodded when he saw her and said, "Lord Yan."

Yan Jinghan was wearing an old robe, with a slightly open front and a straw in his mouth. He glanced at her calmly, and continued to look down at the book in his hand.

"Wait a minute, this is the last story, I have to finish it."

The woman raised her hand, and the iron door closed, leaving only the two of them in the room.

Yan Jinghan finished turning the last page, poohed the straw in his mouth, picked up a porcelain bowl and drank a large bowl of tea, and then looked at the person: "Who sent you?"

The woman didn't answer, she just put the cloth bag on the table and untied it, revealing the contents inside, a jug of wine and a cup.

Since there is only one cup, it is impossible to drink from each other.Yan Jinghan pinched the wine glass and looked carefully, then raised his hand and smashed it against the wall.After doing all this, she said calmly: "It's boring, I'm afraid I can't drink this wine."

The woman laughed, and took out a cup from her sleeve as if conjuring, and said, "Master Yan, don't worry, this wine is still drinkable. I just don't know, do you want to drink a toast, or a fine wine?"

Yan Jinghan said: "So what about the toast, and what about the fine wine?"

The woman said: "Drink the toast, and you will be fine; drink the fine wine, and you will be afraid to leave the door."

She changed the subject: "Regardless of the toast and punishment, Lord Yan must hand over the things first, so that this matter can be discussed."

Yan Jinghan covered his mouth and yawned, lay down on the bed, and said disdainfully: "Do you know who was the last person who talked to me about the word "discussion"? Liang Pu Liangzhou Mu, what kind of onion are you? Even the younger generation dares to talk about big things."

She turned her body on her back, and seemed to be swaying her feet easily, but her clenched hands still revealed the tension in her heart. Although she knew that this day would come, for some reason, she still felt that she didn't live enough.

"Master Yan, don't delay the time. People outside are fighting the fire now. You won't notice something strange here. Instead of waiting for others to save you, you might as well think about how to save yourself."

Master Yan was laughing at himself, when he heard this, he sat up from the bed, looked at the woman in front of him and said, "Just before I entered this prison, countless people died in this room. Look at this table, this wall, See if it’s black, it’s the bloodstains left by someone crashing to death; look at the hook on the top, someone was hanged here not long ago, if I really want to die, I don’t need you to send me any wine, I’ll kill myself There are many."

The woman said: "Oh? Then what is Master Yan waiting for?"

Yan Jinghan poured the wine from the jug into the tea bowl, swirled the bi-color liquid, lowered her head slightly, sniffed through the edge of the broken bowl, and said calmly: "I'm just going to die. I'm dead, and I want to see before I die, what hypocrisy those people who talk about their family and country but keep their loyalty are going to put on."

She knew in her heart that she would not survive tonight, before the man could speak, she sighed in a low voice: "Master Yuan, I'm sorry."

Unconsciously, she started thinking about Qingping again, feeling guilty about everything, thinking about Yuan Sui's words, she made a sudden plan, and while she was still somewhat clear-sighted, she said: "What you want, I have already given it to others. "

After saying that, Yan Jinghan showed a strange smile, picked up the tea bowl and drank it down.

Going westward along the Liaohe River from the border of Hezhou, you can see a smear of blue water in the distance. In the afterglow of the setting sun, thousands of hectares of golden red are turned up. When the boat travels here, you can only see the splendor as far as you can see, but this scene cannot be maintained. After a while, as the gold fell to the west, the night gradually rose, and the water surface returned to a calm dark blue.Late at night, when the moon is in the middle of the sky, white mist covers the waters, and towers and palaces appear on the surface of the blue lake. There are sights.Suddenly a wind blows, blowing away all the mist on the water surface, where to look for those wonderful sights, only the bright moon hangs high, the waves surpass the snow, reflecting the stars in the sky like a mirror.

It's just that such a good scene didn't make Qingping feel a little relaxed, her heartstrings were tense, and she had a vague premonition that something was going to happen.

At this time, it was the season when the wind was going smoothly. The boat went all the way south, nearly twice as fast as usual, and traveled day and night, and finally arrived at Yunzhong County at the beginning of spring.Qing Ping got off the boat and went straight to Duanyan Pass, holding an order to see Zhou Qian, but unexpectedly Zhou Qian was ordered to return to Beijing to report on his work, and he left just the day before she arrived.

Now that the mutiny in Chenzhou has subsided, and the Duanyanguan garrison commander has been handed over, Qingping is very anxious, but he also knows that there is no rush, so he can only patiently wait for the new commander to be summoned.Although she holds the secret decree, she still needs the commander's permission if she wants to mobilize the army.But now the situation will change even more after a while, and I don't know if the new commander-in-chief will agree.

Li Yan added a cup of tea for her, and said in a low voice: "My lord, do you want me to go and have a look?"

Qingping knocked on the table, pointed to the stool and said: "No need, just wait, sit down and rest."

Li Yan felt that her action was indescribably familiar, and for a while she couldn't remember where she had seen it before. The two of them faced each other across the table, and there was only a pot of cold tea in hand, but neither of them was in the mood to taste it.

Qing Ping asked: "How inconvenient it is when you are on the boat, let me ask you, did you invite yourself to come to Chenzhou?"

After hesitating for a moment, Li Yan said: "It's not all. I was originally transferred from Zijintai to the Ministry of Household Affairs, but when I learned that my lord went to Chenzhou to take up the post, I changed my mind temporarily..."

The promotion and promotion of officials at Zijintai had to be checked by the emperor. If Chu Jun did not allow it, Li Yan might not be able to come to Chenzhou either.Qingping was thinking about why she would do this. The Li family used to belong to Bahuang, so what was the reason for sending such a sensitive person to Chenzhou.The Li family has surrendered for a long time, is it another temptation?

While she was thinking about it, someone from outside the tent came to announce that the Commander-in-Chief had arrived.Qing Ping got up to greet each other, the tent door was opened and a person came in, their eyes met, they were a little surprised that they were acquaintances.

Army Commander Zhao said with a smile: "Lord Li, after leaving Yunzhou, you passed by Duanyan Pass in a hurry last time, and now we only meet each other. What a coincidence."

Qing Ping recalled that he had borrowed soldiers from her to save Chu Jun, and now thinking about it, he was really emotional, with all kinds of feelings in his heart, and he still pretended to be nonchalant on the surface.Army Commander Zhao first brought up the old things to bring everyone closer together, and waited until the atmosphere became a little more relaxed before talking about serious matters.

Qingping put out his future intentions and took out the secret decree from the bag.Army Commander Zhao checked the authenticity, and then said: "Since it is His Majesty's order, and Mr. Li is temporarily acting as the governor of the state, it is clear that it is in the past, but you do not have the official document of the Ministry of War, and there is no transfer order on the surface. There are not many people who give you, I hope Master Li will be more considerate."

Qing Ping smiled and said: "Naturally. General Zhao and I are both new officials, and the fire has not yet been ignited. It is best if General Zhao is willing to borrow troops, but you don't need to give them to me now. I hope General Zhao will wait a little longer." Days, when the time comes, I will naturally send someone.”

She emphasized this borrowed word very much. Although Commander Zhao didn't understand what it meant, he agreed with a smile.

Qingping left Yunzhong County and hurried to Zhaoye. On the way, in order to avoid people's eyes and ears and achieve the effect of surprise, she only brought a few guards with her, so she would be able to arrive one step faster than the appointment document issued by the imperial court.She rode fast, without stopping for a moment, and arrived at Zhaoye in the evening.

The golden crow fell to the west, and a smear of red light dissipated behind the distant mountains, turning into a sunset glow all over the sky.Qing Ping entered through the gate of Zhaoye City, and immediately ran to the Criminal Division to find Yuan Sui.Unexpectedly, the criminal secretary changed his appearance greatly. There were smoky marks on the plaque. She found Yuan Sui in the archives. Yuan Sui hadn't come out for several days. Rare depression.

The sense of uncertainty in Qingping's heart became more and more real, and Yuan Sui said: "Qingping, let me tell you something."

The moon and stars were sparse, and the two came to a small mountain.Yuan Sui said in a low voice: "...First, the prisoner went to the water. At that time, I suspected that someone wanted to steal evidence. I didn't expect them to go after Lord Yan."

Birds flew up from the forest, and the surrounding area was extremely quiet, not even the chirping of insects could be heard.In front of Qingping is a low tomb, the soil is new, and the stele is also new, but her old classmates and friends are buried inside. She brushed the name engraved on the stele, and she looked at it for a long time before she fell silent. Said: "Jinghan told me earlier that those people will not let her go, but with the roster in her hand, she can't escape death."

Yuan Sui leaned over to pull the grass beside the new grave. It rained a few times after the beginning of spring, and the grass grew fast, and the surrounding area was already green.Qing Ping rolled up his sleeves to pull weeds with her, and asked after a while: "Yuan Sui, this is not a new plan you guys have in mind, is it a matter of life and death, Yan Jinghan is messing around, are you letting her do it too?"

Her voice was very soft and pleading, her hands were stained with dirt, and her eyes didn't know where to fall.The original listener felt sad, his throat choked, and he sighed deeply: "No, Master Yan really... went."

The cold moon was like frost, and the mountain wind was blowing the forest sea. Qingping lowered his eyes and said in a low voice: "Really, but I feel that she is still waiting for me. Is it because I came too late?" , In the silvery moonlight, she seemed to be in that icy snowy day again. From Yunzhou to Chenzhou, it seemed that nothing had changed.Everything is pushed forward, and the scene of yesterday is repeated.

'Life between heaven and earth is suddenly like a traveler'.Meeting and parting, sorrow, joy, bitterness and joy, are just a tiny speck of dust between heaven and earth.Those who have left will never return, and they will live and die apart. This difference is forever.

When Yuan Suide heard this, he couldn't help looking at Qingping's face, and saw that her eyes were extremely clear, not even half crazy, and was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to answer.

"You don't need to comfort me, the deceased is gone, no matter how sad you are, it's useless." Qingping patted the soil on his hands, pressed a few pieces of yellow paper on the tablet, and sprinkled the wine into the new soil.

Yuan Sui said: "However, before Lord Yan was killed, he asked the jailer for paper and pen, and wrote a letter to you. But she is a prisoner after all, and the letter was seized by the jailer, but it was not delivered to me in time. This letter is evidence, so I'm sorry I can't give it to you. The letter only asks how you are doing, nothing else. "

Qingping didn't speak, the two went down the mountain together, and she said halfway: "Master Yuan, after you left yourself, you and Yan Jinghan said everything you can remember."

Yan Jinghan is in the prison on weekdays. Yuan Sui, as a servant of the criminal department, has to investigate the case and assist Yun Cejun in investigating the mutiny. Sometimes he is too busy to take care of anything. Not long, she repeated what the two said, Qingping listened intently, and asked: "She said that the roster can only be read by His Majesty alone, right?"

"Yes, Master Yan did say that." Yuan Sui replied, "I don't have a clue who is looking for this roster, and I can't find out why."

Qingping suddenly said: "Is there anyone under your command who can use it? Go to the Wu family in Hezhou and invite someone to come. We need to check the Lingnan family again."

Because the documents appointed by the imperial court arrived in Zhaoye in Qingping, many prying eyes were saved. After everything was arranged properly, the appointment of the imperial court also arrived. All the state officials of the fifth rank and above from the Chenzhou prefecture came to welcome them, and at night the state prefecture held a banquet , so lively.Zhouzheng Yao Bin is Yan Minghua's student, she has already got the news.The imperial court sent the newly appointed Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites to Chenzhou to temporarily act as the governor of the state. No matter how you look at it, this matter is indescribably weird.As the governor, Yao Bin didn't say anything to the boss who came by airborne. He sat at the same table with Qingping at the banquet, and their eyes met. It was a tacit understanding between smart people.

During the banquet, Yao Bin said: "Chenzhou has beautiful mountains and rivers, and the scenery along the way is boundless. I'm afraid Master Li won't want to leave when he comes."

All the officials applauded and laughed, and looked at the young Minister of Rites, only to see her smile slightly, gently put down the cup in her hand, her eyes rolled, which was more touching than the fine wine in the cup: "What Yao Zhou is saying is that this is not a half-way return, Have you returned to Chenzhou?"

Yao Bin heard the overtones, he just laughed and didn't make any more noise.Seeing that Zhou Zheng didn't speak, the rest of the people didn't want to test anything. When the dinner was over, Qingping returned to the hotel where he was staying, and the guard came to report, saying that Mr. Yuan was already waiting inside.

Knowing that Yuan Sui brought someone to see her, Qing Ping forced himself into the house even though he was exhausted.

Sure enough, there was not only Yuan Sui in the room, but also a person she was familiar with, Wu Yue.

The two haven't seen each other for a while, but now they meet in this situation, but they have an inexplicable feeling.Wu Yue's impression of her is still the same as when she escaped from Yunzhou, while Qingping's impression of her is from a long time ago, when she was studying in school.

Qing Ping is now the minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Wu Yue has been a white man for so many years. Their identities are completely different, and they turned around all of a sudden.Today, things have changed.When they met each other, only they knew what time had changed.

Wu Yue didn't salute either, but bowed slightly.

Qing Ping didn't care, Yuan Sui smelled the smell of alcohol and asked, "Did Master Li come back from a banquet?"

Qing Ping replied: "Unexpectedly, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in Chenzhou has so many talented people, and it is not safe to eat a meal."

Yuan Sui asked, "Is it Yao Zhouzheng?"

Qingping said in a distressed way: "Yao Bin is a student of Yan Ge, and he must have heard the news a long time ago. She will not take care of the affairs of the state when I am in the state. It is estimated that the Yan Ge veteran has promised her the position of state pastor. Everyone takes what they need. That's all."

When Yuan Sui heard this sentence, he already had a rough idea in his mind, so he stopped asking more questions, got up and said goodbye: "There are still some things to do in the Criminal Division, so I will go ahead."

After she left, Wu Yue suddenly said: "What is Master Li planning to do in Chenzhou, why did you secretly investigate Xie's family?"

Qingping glanced at her and said: "It's too late, the Xie family's handwriting can be seen everywhere in the temple affairs before, no matter if it's a family or a vassal king, they always have to get involved. You've heard about Shen Mingshan, too. There is also the shadow of Xie's family behind her. Mr. Yuan is in charge of investigating the case, if you want, you can naturally follow her."

Wu Yue said: "Hearing what your lord said, the Xie family's conviction is already a certainty."

Qing Ping calmly said: "We must pay attention to evidence in everything, and only when there is evidence can we convict. The Xie family in Lingnan is a wealthy family in Hezhou, and their in-laws and old relatives are all over the three states of Hechen and Fujian. It doesn't mean that you can be convicted. It’s up to you. Doubt is one thing, verification is another thing, it’s all a matter for the Ministry of Punishment.”

She neither denied nor admitted, but threw out arguments for conviction.How clever Wu Yue is, he knew at a glance that the Xie family was doomed, but Qingping wanted to push the Xie family to a dead end, so as to drag out more people and catch them all.

After pondering for a moment, Wu Yue said, "Where should my lord start the investigation?"

Qingping looked at the lamp in the corridor, and asked, "Where do you think we should start to investigate?"

Wu Yue was speechless for a moment, Qing Ping got up and walked a few steps in the room, said calmly: "You are too impatient, there is no use in being impatient."

Wu Yue said in a deep voice: "The Wu family is also swaying left and right now. If you are not happy, then a new alliance will appear again. You can destroy a whole world, but how do you face a new family alliance. Sir Li, I don’t need to elaborate on this truth. At that time, they will become popular, and even the court will have to weigh it over and over again. At that time, it will be harder than going to heaven to get rid of them.”

Qing Ping said: "What news did you get?"

Wu Yue said coldly: "Hailu. They want to compete with the Shao family for the share of the Imperial Merchant, and connect the three prefectures of Hechen and Fujian to obtain more benefits. One can imagine how powerful the aristocratic family will be at that time."

Qingping nodded, indicating that he knew.Since Wu Yue can come here, in a sense, she has already betrayed the family.The news she brought forced Qingping to put something on the agenda.

Seeing that she was still calm, Wu Yue frowned slightly, obviously feeling a little unreasonable.

"I'm more urgent than you," Qingping said, "but it's useless to be anxious. I can tell you one thing. The imperial court didn't just send me to Chenzhou. It was written on the document that I was temporarily acting as the governor of the state. But there are four other appointed chief officers."

Wu Yue reacted, and said in astonishment: "Then you—"

Qingping made a stop gesture, signaling her to be calm and calm: "I just arrived early to seize the opportunity. It will take a while for the paperwork for their transfer from the cabinet to be issued by the official department. This is our last chance. .”

Wu Yue couldn't believe it: "So, you don't have any real power in your hands..."

Qingping looked at her calmly and said, "That's right, I only have a secret decree to do things cheaply."

Fortunately, her handwriting was similar to Chu Jun's, and she couldn't tell if she added a few more lines to the blank space. After all, few people would carefully distinguish the handwriting on the imperial decree. For example, the former Commander Zhao didn't see it.

Chu Jun didn't want her to go to Chenzhou to do anything at all, but just fulfilled his promise to let her go to Chenzhou.A group of imperial envoys with real power and an empty-handed minister, you can tell at a glance which is more important.

Wu Yue calmed down and asked, "Do you know the consequences of this incident?"

Qingping held back his sighs, and said wearily: "I know better than you, but don't take risks like this, as you said, there will never be such an opportunity in the future."

Wu Yue looked at her face and remained silent, before standing up and saluting respectfully to her, "Before, I thought my lord was trying to avoid the important ones...so I was a little negligent, and I apologize to my lord."

The two did not speak, and Qing Ping said after a while: "Once upon a time, a classmate and friend asked me why I was studying and becoming an official. I said, 'Build a heart for the world, build a life for the people, inherit the knowledge for the sage, and serve the eternal world. Kai Taiping', in fact, I didn’t do any of them, but she did the first two.” As she spoke, her eyes were slightly wet, and she looked up and blinked, as if she saw the figure of that person by the window, her smile was as bright as ever , when she looked at it with tears in her eyes, there was only a lone lamp by the window eaves, swaying gently in the night wind.